We reach out today to share the news that our Board has made the difficult decision to close the blue doors and dissolve Underhill House as a nonprofit organization. As many of you know, Underhill House volunteers along with the director have been faithfully holding space for ten years for passers-by to encounter the sacred. Some of you have been on both sides of our ministry model—companioned in your yearning for connection through prayer and silence, then later holding space for others as a Listener. We are grateful to all of you who have supported Underhill House in various ways—as visitors, as volunteers, as recurring or one-time seed donors.
When Underhill House closed during the Covid-19 pandemic much changed along the sidewalk between Broadway and 10th. All Pilgrims changed their weekly dinner to serve lunch daily, filling a vital need for the community. General foot traffic lessened and fewer folks have responded to the invitation to pause for prayer, meditation, or silence. Since the blue doors of Underhill House re-opened in 2022, we’ve noticed that pre-pandemic community behaviors have simply not returned. It’s become more problematic for the neighborhood to host a contemplative practice such as ours. The pattern seems to be speaking to an organic turning—not to an end, but to a need for transplanting.
As saddened as we are by the thought of closing the blue doors on Capitol Hill, we are excited by the prospect of re-planting the Underhill House contemplative ministry founded by Susan Dean at the Sacred Waters Center for Restoration and Retreat in Union, WA, only steps above the gorgeous Hood Canal. (In a breathtaking bestowal reminiscent of nature’s own economy of grace, Sacred Waters was recently gifted to the Episcopal Diocese of Olympia.) This setting, filled year-round with Spirit-seeking retreatants and open to the local community, could not be more hospitable to our ministry model.
For those in the Seattle area, we invite you to come by Underhill House as your schedule allows during August, Thursdays 12-2p. On August 28, our last day of operation behind the blue doors, we plan to hold space 12-4p, concluding with a “transplanting” liturgy that honors the people and ground from which the Underhill House ministry sprouted and was so lovingly nurtured, while also blessing the welcoming home at which it will someday thrive again.
Our board is available for questions and for listening as you process this information. We will be attending to administrative details in the coming weeks, and are here for any pastoral concerns as well.
Underhill House Board
Kristen Daley Mosier, co-chair, kdaleymosier@pm.me
Sylvia Sepulveda, co-chair
Mark Blindheim
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